—
Blog
Your most powerful tool might not be the sentence you write – it’s the thinking you share while writing it.
Share on:
by Gloucestershire Research School at The GLA Trust
on the
Melody is Deputy Director of the Gloucestershire Research School and part of the Trust School Improvement Team at The GLA Trust. As part of her GLA role, she leads on implementing writing strategies with an aim of raising standards for all.
During a recent school visit, I saw a lesson building a description using suspense. The modelled line:
The sky was black.
The teacher stopped, “I want my reader to feel the tension here. I’m thinking of how the sky quickly changed to a type of sky which suggests something scary is coming”. The modelled writing being revealed on the board had the pupils already imagining.
The sky collapsed into darkness. I could tell something was coming.
The teacher paused again, offered opportunities to choral read, whilst exaggerating ‘collapsed’. “I need to bring in the other senses to build further tension. Maybe I’ll add a sound with a conjunction and then zoom into a short sentence with an impactful reaction.” Again, the pupils could see the thoughts of an author come to life on the board, not by magic but through a careful decisions, reflection and experimentation.
The sky collapsed into darkness and a growl of thunder crawled across the horizon. She froze.
That short conversation that the teacher had with herself taught the pupils more about crafting suspense than any checklist ever could.
So, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: what made this a powerful exercise?
1. They made thinking ‘visible’
Research from Fisher & Frey (2014) emphasises that visible learning — where teachers make their thinking transparent — is key to helping students transfer skills and strategies to independent work. Children need to see that good writing is not magic — it’s thoughtful. Verbalising your thought process shows them that writing is built through purposeful, conscious choices.
2. They built writer identity – ‘we are writers!’
When children hear a teacher thinking critically about their own writing, they begin to see themselves as capable of doing the same. It fosters ownership and confidence: “Writers think like this, and I can too.”
3. They deepened understanding of syntax and grammar
Metacognitive strategies help children internalise the language of writing. They begin to notice sentence structure, tone, audience and purpose — not just imitate sentence patterns, or my favourite: substitute ‘Alice’ for ‘Andrea’!
4. They encouraged revising.
Graves (1983) championed the idea that writing is a process, not a product, and that learners need to experience the full cycle – including rethinking and redrafting- to develop authentic writing skills. The EEF’s Guidance Report: ‘Improving Literacy in KS2’ demonstrates the importance of revising in recommendation 4. By modelling the messy, iterative nature of writing – complete with false starts and rethinking – teachers show that revising writing is not a failure, but a natural part of the writing process.
Top tips I’ve discovered along the way
Share authorial intent: what type of writing am I creating? Suspense, humour etc. This goes beyond genre types, but instead to authorial intent.
Plan your model with key questions in mind: think about where to pause and reflect out loud.
Use consistent question stems: repeating phrases helps children adopt the same habits.
Encourage children to ask and answer these questions: prompt them to reflect during modelled writing and as an independent writer.
Use echo and choral reading: the pupils will quickly be able to tell if the authorial intent has been met, even if they aren’t sure how to fix it yet!
Final Thoughts
Writing is complex. It’s creative, technical, emotional and deeply cognitive. When I first started teaching, I thought modelling writing was about showing the product (and was always surprised when 30 copies of the same thing landed on my desk at the end of the lesson!). Now I know it’s about revealing the process.
So, if you’re standing at the front of your class with a whiteboard pen in hand, remember this: your most powerful tool might not be the sentence you write — it’s the thinking you share while writing it.
References
Fisher, D. and Frey, N. (2014) Better learning through structured teaching: a framework for the gradual release of responsibility. 2nd edn. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Graves, D.H. (1983) Writing: teachers and children at work. Exeter, NH: Heinemann.
Education Endowment Foundation (2021) Improving literacy in key stage 2. London: EEF. Available at: https://educationendowmentfoun… (Accessed: [10.06.25]).
This website collects a number of cookies from its users for improving your overall experience of the site.Read more
